The evening started with Johann Strauss II's beloved Waltz composition Voices of Spring, and went on with works of Tchaikovsky, Waxman and Paganini. It concluded with four pieces from the Gadfly Suite by Dmitri Shostakovich, echoing SSO's big plan to record the completed collection of Shostakovich symphonies in four music seasons.

SSO launched the Shanghai New Year's Concert in 2009. In the past 17 years, the annual concert has become one of the most influential cases among the 50 best cultural brands of Shanghai.